Systems and methods for providing payment hotspots

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for facilitating payments between users of the system such as person-to-person payments using a payment hotspot. A payment hotspot or payspot may be generated by a first user device of a first user to facilitate a transfer of funds between the first user and the second user. The payspot may be a virtual payment portal that allows secure payment between the users without either of the users having to provide identifying information to the other user. The payspot may be accessed by the second user based on the proximity of a second user device of the second user to the first user device or the first user may provide an identification code of the payspot to the second user. The second user may access the payspot by communicating with a payment server with the second user device, through the first user device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/729,467, filed Oct. 10, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/247,754, filed Aug. 25, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No.9,785,932, issued Oct. 10, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/504,204, filed Oct. 1, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,449,318, issued Sep. 20, 2016, all of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to electronic commerce and,more particularly, relates to methods and systems for securelytransferring funds between users.

BACKGROUND

The use of mobile devices, such as cellular telephones, to makepurchases is well known. Such mobile devices may be used to makepurchases from brick and mortar stores and from online stores. Forexample, such mobile devices may be used to pay for purchases via acredit card, debit card, gift card, or an account with a paymentprovider. Generally, a single person will pay for a purchase. However,there are instances where it is desirable to share the payment for apurchase among a plurality of people or to make payments directlybetween two or more people.

Systems have been developed in which a person may use their mobile phoneto make a payment directly to a mobile phone of another person. However,in conventional systems, in order to facilitate such a payment one orboth of the participants must transmit sensitive personal and/orfinancial information such as a user identifier (ID) or a phone numberto the other participant. In many situations, a person may hesitate touse such as system when the other participant is not trusted or known tothe person.

It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved systemsand methods for transferring funds between users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative networked system suitablefor implementing processes for transfer of funds, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative virtual payment portal locatedwith a geo-fence, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user device showing how theuser device may be operated to provide the user with the ability to setup a payspot, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative user device showing how theuser device may be operated to provide the user with the ability toconnect to a payspot, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for facilitating fundstransfers using a payspot having an associated access code, according toan embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for facilitating fundstransfers using a payspot having an associated geo-fence, according toan embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an improved mobile device, the functioningof which is modified by the inclusion of various payspot modules forprocessing transfers of funds according to an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an improved server, the functioning ofwhich is modified by the inclusion of various payspot modules forprocessing transfers of funds according to an embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for implementingone or more components in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment.

Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, whereinshowings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of thepresent disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are provided for facilitating person-to-person (P2P)mobile payments. According to an embodiment, a first user may use afirst user device to generate a payment hotspot (sometimes referred toherein as a “payspot”) and broadcast that payment hotspot in a localregion around the user device. A second user may operate a second userdevice to detect the payment hotspot and make a payment to the paymenthotspot. In this way, payments may be made from the second user to thefirst user without the first user having to provide the second user withany user-identifying information. For example, the second user cancommunicate with a payment provider server through a first user device(e.g., via the payspot generated by the first user device).

These person-to-person payments may facilitate the sharing of paymentsamong two or more users for products and/or services without requiringthe exchange of user-identifying information of any of the users. Forexample, these P2P payments may facilitate splitting of a bill at, forexample, a restaurant. In this example, a group of friends may eat ameal together at a particular restaurant and a first one of the usersmay pay the bill for the meal and create a payspot having a payspotidentifier. One or more other users may send payments for their portionsof the bill to the payspot identifier. A third party server such as apayment provider server may facilitate the transfer of funds from theone or more other users to the first user by associating the payspotidentifier with an account of the first user and providing the paymentto the account of the first user.

Improvements to financial transaction processing systems are thereforeprovided by providing networked computing systems having previouslynon-existent payspot modules that generate, detect, interact with, andmanage processes for a payspot that improve the functioning of thesystem itself for processing financial transactions.

According to an embodiment, a system may include one or more hardwarememories storing account information for a first user; and one or morehardware processors operable to: generate a payment hotspot that isassociated with the account information of the first user and that isvisible to a second user; receive a payment at the payment hotspot fromthe second user; and facilitate a transfer of funds to the first userbased on the payment and the account information of the first user.

At least one of the one or more memories may be a memory of a firstuser's mobile device. At least one of the one or more memories may be amemory of a server. At least one of the one or more memories may be amemory of a second user's mobile device. At least one of the one or moreprocessors may be a processor of a first user's mobile device. At leastone of the one or more processors may be a processor of a server. Atleast one of the one or more processors may be a processor of a seconduser's mobile device.

According to an embodiment, a computer program product may comprise anon-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable andexecutable code. The code may be for instructing one or more processorsto perform any of the methods discussed herein.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for providing mobile payments suchas person-to-person mobile payments, according to an embodiment. Thesystem may include a merchant device 110. The merchant device 110 may bea merchant checkout terminal, a computer, and/or a server, for example.The merchant device 110 may include a memory 111 and a processor 112.The merchant device 110 may be used for accepting a payment for aproduct and/or service being purchased from the merchant. Note that themerchant or a merchant device can generally be any entity or devicereceiving funds, including an individual.

The system may include a first user's mobile device 120. The firstuser's mobile device 120 may be carried by the first user. The firstuser's mobile device 120 may be a cellular telephone, a smart telephone,a hand held computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a wearablecomputing device, or a tablet computer, for example. The first user'smobile device 120 may include a processor 121, a memory 122, and/orcommunications circuitry such as a near field communications (NFC)device 123 and/or other communications circuitry such as WiFicommunications circuitry, cellular communications circuitry, Bluetoothcommunications circuitry, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) communicationscircuitry, etc. The first user's mobile device 120 may be NFC enabled,WiFi enabled, cellular enabled, Bluetooth enabled, BLE enabled, etc.

The first user's mobile device 120 may be used to generate a paymenthotspot. A payment hotspot may be a virtual payment portal with anidentifier such as a name. The first user's mobile device 120 may beused to broadcast the name of the payment hotspot within a local area ofthe first user's mobile device 120 (e.g., to other devices within avirtual fence defining a perimeter around the first user's mobiledevice, sometimes referred to herein as a geo-fence). The first user'smobile device 120 may be used to pay the merchant for the product and/orservice purchased. In one embodiment, the merchant may generate apayspot for receiving payments from the first user and/or payments fromother users.

A payment application (app) 124 may be stored in the memory 122 andexecuted by the processor 121. The payment app 124 may be used forgenerating the payment hotspot. For example, the shared payment app 124may communicate with one or more servers such as server 130 (e.g., apayment provider server) to request generation of the payment hotspot,receive an identifier or name of the payment hotspot, and broadcast thename of the payment hotspot for detection by the second user's mobiledevice 140.

The system may include one or more second users' mobile devices 140. Thesystem may include any number of second users' mobile devices 140. Forexample, the system may include one, two, three, five, ten, twenty five,one hundred, or more second users' mobile devices. The second users'mobile devices 140 may be carried by any number of second users. Thesecond users' mobile devices 140 may be cellular telephones, smarttelephones, hand held computers, laptop computers, notebook computers,wearable computing devices, or tablet computers, for example. Eachmobile device 140 may similarly include a processor 141, a memory 142,and/or communications circuitry such as a near field communications(NFC) device 143 and/or other communications circuitry such as WiFicommunications circuitry, cellular communications circuitry, Bluetoothcommunications circuitry, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) communicationscircuitry, etc. The second user's mobile device 140 may be NFC enabled,WiFi enabled, cellular enabled, Bluetooth enabled, BLE enabled, etc. Apayment app 144 may be stored in the memory 142 and executed by theprocessor 141.

The second users' mobile devices 140 may be used to detect and/orconnect to a payment hotspot generated by the first user and broadcastusing the first user's mobile device.

The payment app 144 may be executed by the processor 141. The paymentapp 144 may be used to detect one or more payment hotspots, to receive apayment hotspot identification code from the second user, connect to apayment hotspot and/or provide a payment to one or more paymenthotspots.

The system may include one or more servers 130. The server 130 may be aserver of a bank, a credit card company, a payment provider such asPayPal, Inc., or any other entity. The server may be a server of anintermediary, such as a payment facilitating intermediary. The server130 may represent a single server or a plurality of servers. The server130 may include one or more processors 131 and a memory 132. The memory132 may be a memory of the server 130 or a memory that is associatedwith the server 130. The memory 132 may be a distributed memory. Thememory 132 may store a first user's account 133, one or more secondusers' accounts 134, and one or more merchant's accounts 135.

The server 130 may be used for facilitating payment from the first userand one or more second users to the merchant, from the first user to thesecond user and/or from the second user to the first user. The servermay have other functions, as well. For example, the server may be usedfor other (non-hotspot) payment processing functions.

The system may include one or more third-party servers such as a socialnetwork server 150, an email server, or other server that may be used bythe first user and/or one or more of the second users. The socialnetwork 150 may contain information regarding the first user and/or thesecond users. For example, the social network 150 may contain userlocation information, user preference information, user purchase historyinformation or other information for the first user and/or the seconduser.

The merchant device 110, the first user's mobile device 120, the secondusers' mobile devices 140, the server 130, and the social network 150may communicate with one another via a network 170, such as Internet.The merchant device 110, the first user's mobile device 120, the secondusers' mobile devices 140, the server 130, and the social network 150may communicate with one another via one or more networks, such as localarea networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), cellular telephonenetworks, and the like. The merchant device 110, the first user's mobiledevice 120, the second users' mobile devices 140, the server 130, andthe social network 150 may communicate with one another, at leastpartially, via one or more near field communication (NFC) methods orother short range communications methods, such as infrared (IR),Bluetooth, WiFi, BLE, and WiMax.

As shown, the network-based system of FIG. 1 may include or implement aplurality of servers and/or software components that operate to performvarious methodologies in accordance with the described embodiments.Exemplary servers may include, for example, stand-alone andenterprise-class servers operating a server OS such as a MICROSOFT® OS,a UNIX® OS, a LINUX® OS, or another suitable server-based OS. It may beappreciated that the servers illustrated in FIG. 1 may be deployed inother ways and that the operations performed and/or the servicesprovided by such servers may be combined or separated for a givenimplementation and may be performed by a greater number or fewer numberof servers. One or more servers may be operated and/or maintained by thesame or different entities.

A payment hotspot generated by a mobile device of the first user (e.g.,mobile device 120) may be discoverable and/or accessible within aparticular volume of space (e.g., a geo-fence) around the first user'smobile device or may be accessible using an identification codeassociated with the first user's mobile device. FIG. 2 shows an exampleof a payment hotspot that is accessible within a geo-fence.

As shown in FIG. 2, a first user device 200 (e.g., USER DEVICE 1) maygenerate a virtual payment portal (also referred to as a payment hotspotor payspot) 202. User device 200 may broadcast an identifier of thevirtual payment portal such as a payspot name. User device 200 maybroadcast the identifier using short range communications circuitry suchas NFC circuitry, Bluetooth® circuitry, or WiFi circuitry having a rangethat defines the boundaries of a geo-fence 206 so that the virtualpayment portal is only detectable by other devices within the geo-fence206. Geo-fence 206 may be a virtual perimeter around first user device200 that encloses a volume around user device 200 such as a volumewithin a distance of 1 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm, 1 m, 5 m, 10 m, 50 m, or 100 m(as examples).

A second user device 204 (e.g., USER DEVICE 2) within the geo-fence 206may include communications circuitry capable of detecting the existenceof the virtual payment portal 202 (e.g., by detecting the broadcastcommunication from first user device 200). Second user device 204 may beprovided access to the virtual payment portal 202 based on the locationof second user device 204 within geo-fence 206 or may be used to providea code or other access information to the virtual payment portal toobtain access to the portal. Second user device 204 may be used toprompt a user of device 204 to enter a payment amount to be provided tothe first user via the virtual payment portal and may provideauthorization to the virtual payment portal 202 to provide payment froman account of the user of second user device 204 to the user of firstuser device 200.

First user device 200 may be used to prompt the user of first userdevice 200 to initiate generation of the payment hotspot 202. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 3, first user device 200 may include a display300 that (e.g., when the user of first user device 200 initiates apayment app) provides instructions 302 to the user to generate thepayment hotspot (e.g., text such as “TO GENERATE A PAYSPOT TO ACCEPTPAYMENTS FROM A LOCAL USER CLICK HERE”). As shown in the example of FIG.3, the instructions may include a virtual or real “CLICK HERE” button304 that initiates generation of the payspot.

When the user of first user device 200 initiates generation of thepayspot, first user device 200 may communicate with one or more serverssuch as a payment server to generate the payment hotspot and obtain aunique identifier of the payment hotspot. For example, the server maymanage the generation of payment hotspots of multiple users so that eachpayment hotspot has a unique identifier to facilitate payments to thedesired account. The server may generate the payment hotspot and theidentifier and provide the identifier to the first user device. Thefirst user device may then broadcast the identifier and provide otherdevices such as second user device 204 with access to the paymenthotspot via the communications circuitry of first user device 200.

As shown in FIG. 4, an Nth user device 400 (e.g., the second user device204 of FIG. 2 or any other user device) may include a display 402 thatcan be used to provide a user of the Nth user device with options formaking one or more payments to one or more payment hotspots. In theexample of FIG. 4, Nth user device 400 provides, using display 402, alist 404 of payment hotspots 406 (e.g., PAYSPOT 1 and PAYSPOT 2) eachhaving a corresponding identifier (e.g., IDENTIFIER 1 and IDENTIFIER 2).A first user that has generated the payment hotspot may provide theidentifier of one of the hotspots to the user of Nth user device 400(e.g., verbally or by written or electronic communication) so that theuser of Nth user device 400 can select the payment hotspot for providingpayment to that first user. Payspots may also be filtered by the paymentprovider, such as only showing payspots generated first users with somesort of connection to the Nth user, such as through previoustransactions, social network data, contact lists, and the like.

The user of Nth user device 400 may tap, click, or otherwise select oneof the payment hotspots 406 in list 404 and provide a payment to thatselected payspot. However, this is merely illustrative. In otherconfigurations, Nth user device 400 may be arranged to connect to allavailable payspots and/or to provide the user with an entry box 408 forentering a known identifier (e.g., a short code) of a payment hotspot towhich the user wishes to connect (e.g., a payspot that is notdiscoverable).

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts of illustrative operations that may beperformed for facilitating transfer of funds between users using paymenthotspots. In the example of FIG. 5, access to the payment hotspot isprovided to a user based on an identification code provided by the user.In the example of FIG. 6, access to the payment hotspot is providedbased on the location of the user's device.

Illustrative operations that may be performed for facilitating transferof funds between users of a system using a hotspot having an identifiersuch as a short code are shown in FIG. 5.

At step 500, a server such as a payment provider server may receive arequest from a first user to generate a payment hotspot (payspot) foraccepting payments. The request from the first user may be received froma mobile device of the first user.

At step 502, the server and/or the mobile device of the first user maygenerate a payspot and an associated identifier such as a short coderesponsive to the request. For example, the server may activate thepayspot and generate the associated identifier by creating a uniqueidentifier that is not currently being used to identify any otherpayspots in the current area or more generally anywhere and associatingthat identifier with an account of the first user.

At step 504, the server may provide the identifier (e.g., the shortcode) to the first user (e.g., by sending a communication to the mobiledevice of the first user containing the identifier). In otherembodiments, the first user may select or create its own payspotidentifier, such as selection from a dropdown menu or data entry into afield. The first user device may generate the payspot using the providedidentifier (e.g., by broadcasting the identifier).

At step 506, the server and/or the mobile device of the first user mayreceive the identifier (e.g., the short code) from a second user. Forexample, the server may receive the short code directly from a mobiledevice of the second user, the first user device may receive the shortcode directly from the mobile device of the second user, or the firstuser device may receive the short code from the mobile device of thesecond user and relay the short code to the server or provideconfirmation to the server that the short code has been received. Inthis way, the second user device can communicate with the paymentprovider server via the first user device.

At step 508, the server and/or the first user device may provide thesecond user access to the payspot responsive to receiving the short codefrom the second user. For example, the first user device may provide themobile device of the second user with access to the payspot when theshort code is received from the mobile device of the second user or whenthe server provides confirmation to the first user device that the shortcode has been received from the second user. As another example, theserver may provide the mobile device of the second user with access tothe payspot when the short code is received from the mobile device ofthe second user via the mobile device of the first user.

At step 510, the server may receive a request to transfer funds betweenthe first and second users via the payspot. For example, the server mayreceive a request from the mobile device of the second user to providerpayment from an account of the second user to an account of the firstuser associated with the payspot identifier. The server may receive therequest from the mobile device of the second user through thecommunications circuitry of the first user device (e.g., the first userdevice may relay the request from the mobile device of the second userto the server).

At step 512, the server may facilitate the requested transfer of funds.The server may facilitate the requested transfer of funds bytransferring funds from an account of the second user to an account ofthe first user or otherwise facilitating a payment from the second userto the first user (or from the first user to the second user).

Illustrative operations that may be performed for facilitating transferof funds between users of a system using a hotspot having an associatedgeo-fence are shown in FIG. 6.

At step 600, a server such as a payment provider server may receive arequest from a first user to generate a payment hotspot (payspot) foraccepting payments. The request from the first user may be received froma mobile device of the first user.

At step 602, the server and/or the mobile device of the first user maygenerate a payspot and an associated geo-fence responsive to therequest. For example, the server may activate the payspot by creating aunique identifier that is not currently being used to identify any otherpayspots and associating that identifier with an account of the firstuser. The first user may select or enter a specific payspot identifier,such as “Joe's Store” or “Bill's Birthday Party.” The server and/or themobile device of the first user may generate the geo-fence by generatinga payspot that is only accessible within a specified detected distanceof the first user device or the server may generate a payspot that isaccessible to all devices that can detect the payspot, thereby allowingthe geo-fence to be defined by the broadcast communications circuitry ofthe first user device (e.g., by a range of the broadcast communicationscircuitry). The first user may set the distance or the distance may beset or suggested by the payment provider. For example, for the former,the first user may want to collect money for a birthday party at arestaurant and thus may set the distance to be within the restaurant orwithin the restaurant and parking areas for the restaurant. For thelatter, an example may be a fairly limited distance set by the paymentprovider if there are many other payspots in the area, such that usersare not shown too many available payspots in their area. A time durationor expiration may also be associated with the payspot. For example, thefirst user may set a time duration corresponding to the length of timethe first user is expecting to be at the location accepting payments,such as 6 hours or until 5 p.m. for a sales booth. In other embodiments,the payment provider may automatically terminate the payspot upondetecting the first user has left the payspot area and is unlikely toreturn for receiving more payment. For example, the first user may bedetected leaving the geofence and traveling in a direction to the firstuser's home at a high rate of speed (e.g., indicating travel in a car),based on an expected duration of the payspot, time of day, length oftime away from the payspot, and/or other indicators that the first useris finished using the payspot to receive funds.

At step 604, the server and/or the first user device may determine thata second user device is located within the geo-fence. The server and/orthe first user device may determine that the second user device islocated within the geo-fence by receiving a communication to the payspot(e.g., to the server via the first user device based on a broadcastpayspot identifier from the first user device) from the second userdevice indicating that the second user device has detected the presenceof the payspot and is therefore within the geo-fence.

At step 606, the server and/or the first user device may provide thesecond user access to the payspot responsive to determining that thesecond user device is located within the geo-fence. For example, thefirst user device may provide the mobile device of the second user withaccess to the payspot by broadcasting an identifier of the payspot toall devices within a given range (e.g., a predetermined range or acommunications range of the first user device).

At step 608, the server may receive a request to transfer funds betweenthe first and second users via the payspot. For example, the server mayreceive a request from the mobile device of the second user (e.g., viathe first user device) to provide payment from an account of the seconduser to an account of the first user associated with the payspotidentifier. The server may receive the request from the mobile device ofthe second user through the communications circuitry of the first userdevice (e.g., the first user device may relay the request from themobile device of the second user to the server).

At step 610, the server may facilitate the requested transfer of funds.The server may facilitate the requested transfer of funds bytransferring funds from an account of the second user to an account ofthe first user or otherwise facilitating a payment from the second userto the first user (or from the first user to the second user).

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a mobile device (e.g., an implementationof first user's device 120 or second user's device 140 of FIG. 1) thatmay be used for generating and/or sending payments to a payment hotspotas described herein. As shown in FIG. 7, mobile device 700 may includeone or more payspot processing modules that provide specific improvedmobile device functionality for facilitating person-to-person paymentswithout exposing user-identifying information.

The payspot processing modules of mobile device 700 may include payspotgeneration module 702, a payspot detection module 704, and/or a payspotinteraction module 706. Payspot generation module 702 may communicatewith a payment provider server 130 to request and receive a uniqueidentifier of a new payspot and may generate the payment hotspot(payspot) by broadcasting the identifier of the payment hotspot from themobile device. For example, payspot generation module 702 may operatecommunications circuitry of mobile device 700 (e.g., communicationscircuitry included in payspot generation module 702 and/or othercommunications circuitry of mobile device 700) to communicate with thepayment provider server and/or to broadcast the payspot identifier. Thecommunications circuitry may be short-range communications circuitry(e.g., NFC circuitry, Bluetooth circuitry or other short-rangecommunications circuitry) that geo-fences the payspot by broadcastingthe identifier only within a limited distance from the mobile device.

Payspot detection module 704 may detect one or more identifiers of oneor more payment hotspots broadcast by the payspot generation modules ofone or more other mobile devices (e.g., using communications circuitrysuch as the short-range communications circuitry). Payspot interactionmodule 706 may exchange communications with the payment provider server(e.g., directly or via a payspot generated by another mobile device).For example, the payspot interaction module 706 may provide (e.g., viathe payspot generated by another mobile device) a request to the paymentprovider server for the payment provider server to process a transfer offunds between a second user and a first user.

Any or all of modules 702, 704, and/or 706 may be implemented as asubsystem of the device 700 including for example, a circuit, a hardwarecomponent, a hardware subcomponent, and/or a variety of other subsystemsknown in the art. Furthermore, any or all of the modules 702, 704,and/or 706 may be preconfigured to perform their disclosedfunctionality, or may be configured by a processing system “on-the-fly”or as needed to perform their disclosed functionality. As such, any orall of the modules 702, 704, and/or 706 may include pre-configured anddedicated circuits and/or hardware components of the mobile device 700,or may be circuits and/or hardware components that are configured asneeded.

For example, any or all of the modules 702, 704, and/or 706 may beprovided via one or more circuits that include resistors, inductors,capacitors, voltage sources, current sources, switches, logic gates,registers, and/or a variety of other circuit elements known in the art.One or more of the circuit elements in a circuit may be configured toprovide the circuit(s) that cause the modules 702, 704, and/or 706 toperform the functions described above. As such, in some embodiments,preconfigured and dedicated circuits may be implemented to perform thefunctions of the modules 702, 704, and/or 706. In other embodiments, aprocessing system may execute instructions on a non-transitory,computer-readable medium to configure one or more circuits as needed toperform the functions of the modules 702, 704, and/or 706.

A communications module (not shown) may be included in device 700 as aseparate module or may be provided using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that, when executed by a processing system inthe device 700, configure the communications module to send and receiveinformation over a network as, for example, described herein, as well asprovide any of the other functionality that is discussed above. Payspotgeneration module 702 may be included as a separate module provided inthe device 700, or may be provided using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that, when executed by a processing system inthe device 700, configure payspot generation module 702 to provide anyof the functionality that is discussed above. Payspot detection module704 may be included as a separate module provided in the device 700, ormay be provided using instructions stored on a computer-readable mediumthat, when executed by a processing system in the device 700, configurepayspot detection module 704 to provide any of the functionality that isdiscussed above. Payspot interaction module 706 may be included as aseparate module provided in the device 700, or may be provided usinginstructions stored on a computer-readable medium that, when executed bya processing system in the device 700, configure payspot interactionmodule 706 to provide any of the functionality that is discussed above.Furthermore, other modules discussed above but not illustrated in FIG. 7may be provided as separate modules on the device 700, or usinginstructions stored on a computer-readable medium similarly as discussedabove.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a server (e.g., an implementation of apayment provider server such as server 130 of FIG. 1) that may be usedfor activating payment hotspots, generating identifiers associated withpayment hotspots and user identifiers and/or transferring funds betweenusers interacting through a payment hotspot as described herein. Asshown in FIG. 8, server 800 may include one or more payspot processingmodules that provide specific improved server functionality forfacilitating person-to-person payments without exposing user-identifyinginformation.

The payspot processing modules of server 800 may include payspotactivation module 802, a payspot verification module 804, and/or apayspot transaction processing module 806. Payspot activation module 802may activate a payment hotspot in response to a first request from afirst user device of a first user to generate the payment hotspot.Activating the payment hotspot may include determining a uniqueidentifier for the hotspot, linking the unique identifier with a useridentifier of the first user, and providing the unique identifier to thefirst user.

Payspot verification module 804 may receive a second request for apayment from a second user device of a second user via the paymenthotspot. The payment request may be received from the second user devicevia the first user device. For example, by sending a payment request toa payspot generated by a first user device, a second user device maysend the payment request to the payment provider server using thecommunications circuitry of the first user device that is incommunication with the server.

Payspot transaction processing module 806 may facilitate a transfer offunds to the first user from the second user based on the secondrequest. For example, the payment verification module 804 may determinewhether an account of the second user has funds equal to or greater thanthe amount of the requested payment, and if the account of the seconduser has the funds, payspot transaction processing module 806 maytransfer the funds from the account of the second user to an account ofthe first user that is associated with the user identifier and thepayment hotspot.

Any or all of modules 802, 804, and/or 806 may be implemented as asubsystem of the server 800 including for example, a circuit, a hardwarecomponent, a hardware subcomponent, and/or a variety of other subsystemsknown in the art. Furthermore, any or all of the modules 802, 804,and/or 806 may be preconfigured to perform their disclosedfunctionality, or may be configured by a processing system “on-the-fly”or as needed to perform their disclosed functionality. As such, any orall of the modules 802, 804, and/or 806 may include pre-configured anddedicated circuits and/or hardware components of the server 800, or maybe circuits and/or hardware components that are configured as needed.

For example, any or all of the modules 802, 804, and/or 806 may beprovided via one or more circuits that include resistors, inductors,capacitors, voltage sources, current sources, switches, logic gates,registers, and/or a variety of other circuit elements known in the art.One or more of the circuit elements in a circuit may be configured toprovide the circuit(s) that cause the modules 802, 804, and/or 806 toperform the functions described above. As such, in some embodiments,preconfigured and dedicated circuits may be implemented to perform thefunctions of the modules 802, 804, and/or 806. In other embodiments, aprocessing system may execute instructions on a non-transitory,computer-readable medium to configure one or more circuits as needed toperform the functions of the modules 802, 804, and/or 806.

A communications module (not shown) may be included in server 800 as aseparate module or may be provided using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that, when executed by a processing system inthe server 800, configure the communications module to send and receiveinformation over a network as, for example, described herein, as well asprovide any of the other functionality that is discussed above. Payspotactivation module 802 may be included as a separate module provided inthe server 800, or may be provided using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that, when executed by a processing system inthe server 800, configure payspot activation module 802 to provide anyof the functionality that is discussed above. Payspot verificationmodule 804 may be included as a separate module provided in the server800, or may be provided using instructions stored on a computer-readablemedium that, when executed by a processing system in the server 800,configure payspot verification module 804 to provide any of thefunctionality that is discussed above. Payspot transaction processingmodule 806 may be included as a separate module provided in the server800, or may be provided using instructions stored on a computer-readablemedium that, when executed by a processing system in the server 800,configure payspot transaction processing module 806 to provide any ofthe functionality that is discussed above. Furthermore, other modulesdiscussed above but not illustrated in FIG. 8 may be provided asseparate modules on the server 800, or using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium similarly as discussed above.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for implementingone or more components in FIG. 1, FIG. 7, and/or FIG. 8, according to anembodiment. In various embodiments, the user device(s) may each comprisea personal computing device (e.g., smart phone, a computing tablet, apersonal computer, laptop, PDA, Bluetooth device, key FOB, badge, etc.)capable of communicating with the network. The merchant device and/orserver may utilize a network computing device (e.g., a network server)capable of communicating with the network. It should be appreciated thateach of the devices utilized by users and service providers may beimplemented as computer system 900 in a manner as follows.

Computer system 900 includes a bus 902 or other communication mechanismfor communicating information data, signals, and information betweenvarious components of computer system 900. Components include aninput/output (I/O) component 904 that processes a user action, such asselecting keys from a keypad/keyboard, selecting one or more buttons,image, or links, and/or moving one or more images, etc., and sends acorresponding signal to bus 902. I/O component 904 may also include anoutput component, such as a display 911 and a cursor control 913 (suchas a keyboard, keypad, mouse, etc.). An optional audio input/outputcomponent 905 may also be included to allow a user to use voice forinputting information by converting audio signals. Audio I/O component905 may allow the user to hear audio. A transceiver or network interface906 transmits and receives signals between computer system 900 and otherdevices, such as another user device, a merchant device, or a serviceprovider server via network 170. In one embodiment, the transmission iswireless, although other transmission mediums and methods may also besuitable. One or more processors 912, which may be a micro-controller,digital signal processor (DSP), or other processing component, processesthese various signals, such as for display on computer system 900 ortransmission to other devices via a communication link 918. Processor(s)912 may also control transmission of information, such as cookies or IPaddresses, to other devices.

Components of computer system 900 also include a system memory component914 (e.g., RAM), a static storage component 916 (e.g., ROM), and/or adisk drive 917. Computer system 900 performs specific operations byprocessor(s) 912 and other components by executing one or more sequencesof instructions contained in system memory component 914. Logic may beencoded in a computer readable medium, which may refer to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to processor(s) 912 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Invarious embodiments, non-volatile media includes optical or magneticdisks, volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as system memorycomponent 914, and transmission media includes coaxial cables, copperwire, and fiber optics, including wires that comprise bus 902. In oneembodiment, the logic is encoded in non-transitory computer readablemedium. A non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions which, in response to execution by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform some or all of one or more methods asdescribed herein. In one example, transmission media may take the formof acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave,optical, and infrared data communications.

Some common forms of computer readable media include, for example,floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EEPROM,FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other mediumfrom which a computer is adapted to read.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by computer system 900. In various other embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a plurality of computer systems 900 coupled bycommunication link 918 to the network (e.g., such as a LAN, WLAN, PTSN,and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readablemediums. It is also contemplated that software identified herein may beimplemented using one or more general purpose or specific purposecomputers and/or computer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Whereapplicable, the ordering of various steps described herein may bechanged, combined into composite steps, and/or separated into sub-stepsto provide features described herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. As such, itis contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modificationsto the present disclosure, whether explicitly described or impliedherein, are possible in light of the disclosure. Having thus describedembodiments of the present disclosure, persons of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a non-transitory memory;and one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memoryand configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory tocause the system to perform operations comprising: generating anidentification code for a payment hotspot associated with a first userdevice; transmitting the identification code to the first user device;receiving, from a second user device, a payment request comprising theidentification code and payment account information; identifying areceiving entity based on the identification code; and processing apayment for the receiving entity using the payment account informationincluded in the payment request.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, from the first user device, arequest to generate the payment hotspot; and generating the paymenthotspot for the first user device.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein thegenerating the payment hotspot comprises: activating a short-rangewireless communication module of the first user device; and causing theshort-range wireless communication module to broadcast theidentification code.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the receivingentity is a merchant.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the paymentaccount information comprises a payment card number.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the payment request is received indirectly from thesecond user device via the first user device over a short-range wirelesscommunication between the first user device and the second user device.7. The system of claim 1, wherein the payment request is received fromthe second user device without using a communication between the firstuser device and the second user device.
 8. A method, comprising:receiving, by one or more hardware processors from a second user device,a hotspot payment request comprising an identification code and paymentaccount information; identifying, by the one or more hardware processorsfrom a plurality of payment hotspots, a particular payment hotspot and afirst user device hosting the particular payment hotspot based on theidentification code; determining, by the one or more hardwareprocessors, that the first user device is within a distance thresholdfrom the second user device; and in response to determining that thefirst user device is within the distance threshold from the second userdevice, processing, by the one or more hardware processors, a paymentbased on the payment account information.
 9. The method of claim 8,further comprising: receiving, from the first user device, a request togenerate the particular payment hotspot; and generating the particularpayment hotspot for the first user device.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the generating the particular payment hotspot comprisesconfiguring the first user device to be electronically discoverable byother devices using a short-range wireless communication.
 11. The methodof claim 8, further comprising terminating the particular paymenthotspot based on at least one of a location of the first user device ora detected movement of the first user device.
 12. The method of claim 8,further comprising terminating the particular payment hotspot based onan expiration time associated with the particular payment hotspot. 13.The method of claim 8, further comprising: determining a receivingaccount based on the identification code included in the hotspot paymentrequest, wherein the processing the payment is further based on thereceiving account.
 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:receiving, from the second user device, a request to access theparticular payment hotspot; causing the first user device to establish apeer-to-peer communication with the second user device; and providingthe second user device access to the particular payment hotspot via theestablished peer-to-peer communication.
 15. A non-transitorymachine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readableinstructions executable to cause a machine to perform operationscomprising: generating a payment hotspot for a first user device,wherein the generating comprises providing the first user device anidentification code associated with the payment hotspot and causing thefirst user device to be electronically discoverable by a second userdevice within a distance threshold of the first user device; receiving,from the second user device, a payment request comprising theidentification code and payment account information; identifying areceiving entity based on the identification code; and processing apayment for the receiving entity using the payment account informationincluded in the payment request.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: activatingshort-range wireless communications for the first user device thatcauses the identification code to be broadcast through the short rangewireless communications.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise terminating thepayment hotspot based on at least one of a location of the first userdevice or a detected movement of the first user device.
 18. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise terminating the payment hotspot based on anexpiration time associated with the payment hotspot.
 19. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, from the second user device, arequest to access the payment hotspot; causing the first user device toestablish a peer-to-peer communication with the second user device; andproviding the second user device access to the payment hotspot via theestablished peer-to-peer communication.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the receiving entity is amerchant.